[Sailor]

looking for data regarding damage resistance would be hard to find since I dont think that people would generally document such incidents nor intently do so. googling up personal case scenarios might give you the data that you are looking for.

anyway, fwiw, I think I saw an old post in this forum where a damaged K20D was sold due to a fall and a picture of it was provided to show the extent of the damage. I think I had also read some old posts describing how their K10 or K20D were replaced because their camera cracked when their cameras accidentally fell.

I have no doubt that a K20D's body will crack with a hard impact; I have little doubt (although I'm not certain; no data) that a K-7's body will stay in one piece under the same conditions. The question is, of course, will it still work? Whether the camera is incapacitated by a cracked body or by internal damage seems rather academic.

The only simple (but expensive) way to sort this out would be to do some controlled drop tests with multiple examples of the two bodies (with identical lenses mounted, at the same time, same temp., etc.). No one is going to do this, of course. For one thing, it'd be expensive to sacrifice a bunch of camera bodies to get to the answer. Secondly, Pentax and its customers might not like the answer, so why ask the question?

Anyway, the K-7 is a very cool camera, and I suspect few people will feel like slinging one into a concrete wall to see if it breaks. As the price has dropped, I've been sorely tempted to buy one myself, but I'm still inclined to wait for the next iteration. My personal experiment is to determine if I'll hold out!

Jer

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

Although I've yet to buy one, I loved the feel of the K-7 the moment I picked one up; I've always felt my K20D (and its predecessor, my K10D) to be a bit awkward compared with my first DSLR, a DS2.

Compared to other cameras in its price range at the time, the K10D had no peers. I still like its weight in my hands - the thing that I don't like is the grip part of the body (the built-in one, not the add-on) - its shape doesn't allow me to hold it as well as the K-7 one does.

It took me some time to get used to the K-7, mainly because I was annoyed in the beginning by some changes:

- the SD card door - I thought my card was stuck the first time I tried to remove it. The K10D has a much nicer card door
- the connector door - the K10D's is nicer again - I don't like the rubber one on the K-7
- the lock of the mode selector - I still forget about having to press that thing when I want to switch mode - I never had a problem on the K10D with turning the mode dial inadvertently

Once I got over these points, I started enjoying the new controls.

[GeneV]

I have no doubt that a K20D's body will crack with a hard impact; I have little doubt (although I'm not certain; no data) that a K-7's body will stay in one piece under the same conditions. The question is, of course, will it still work? Whether the camera is incapacitated by a cracked body or by internal damage seems rather academic.
.......
Jer

I always thought that difference might be overrated as well. My guess is that most of the time, if you dropped either one of them with a hard enough smack to crack the K20d, you'd be sending it in for some serious repairs. Reminds me of auto crash tests...surviving inside is a different matter from whether the car works afterwards.

[Pentaxor]

I always thought that difference might be overrated as well. My guess is that most of the time, if you dropped either one of them with a hard enough smack to crack the K20d, you'd be sending it in for some serious repairs. Reminds me of auto crash tests...surviving inside is a different matter from whether the car works afterwards.

it would depend on the tolerance of the camera. the difference would be if the camera would sustain a certain level of cosmetic and operational damage at a certain level of fall or shock.

[kalison]

I always thought that difference might be overrated as well. My guess is that most of the time, if you dropped either one of them with a hard enough smack to crack the K20d, you'd be sending it in for some serious repairs. Reminds me of auto crash tests...surviving inside is a different matter from whether the car works afterwards.

This is true I suppose. But remember it doesn't take a significant crack to compromise the sealing.

A small crack on a screw point near a seam can look like cosmetic damage but the seam and seal may no longer be able to do it's job.

I agree that either camera dropped significantly would probably suffer internal damage as well and they would both need expensive repairs.

What I see happening more than a drop is accidentally hitting that corner of a desk or table, where a point (dull or sharp) can multiply the force many times over. Even if it didn't feel like a hard hit it would easily cause a crack.

[GeneV]

it would depend on the tolerance of the camera. the difference would be if the camera would sustain a certain level of cosmetic and operational damage at a certain level of fall or shock.

Absolutely true, but my question is who knows what that is? I had one little camera (Olympus XA) work for 20 years with a crack in the body. I've had some cell phones die on impact without any external sign while others look like they are hanging together by thread, but keep going. It's really kind of superficial to talk about the outer frame of an electronic device given all that is going on inside.

[Rupert]

I have never even held a K7D, they are not available anywhere here in this small Metroplex of 8 million people, but I would like to.
I think you will most likely adapt to your K7 and overcome the initial feeling you report, but I also think that this is another testament to the great camera the K20D has been, and still is. It has been dependable and trouble free, and if it is just on the basis of IQ, it will stand with the K7 with ease. It is those nice features on the K7 that I think will win you over.
Regards!